Christo-Islamic

Christo-Islamic is a term of comparative religion to connect fundamental ideas in Christianity with similar ones in Islam. Islam, which also has commonalities with Judaism, accepts many peripheral aspects of Christianity as part of its faith - with some differences in interpretation.

The phrase "Judeo-Christian values" is commonly used in the West, and many Muslim scholars view this term as emblematic of Western cultures' disconnection with Islam even though Muslims refer to both Jews and Christians as fellow "People of the Book."

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are often collectively referred to as the Abrahamic religions.

Beliefs

Although Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet, it breaks with the belief in Christ as the son of God. Muslims do not believe that Christ was the "begotten son of God" in literal terms, as if God were a male human, but rather that he was a prophet brother who brought to mankind a closer relationship with God and each other. In the "religion-literal" sense, Christians reject the Muslim religion's understanding of Christ as heretical. Archbishop Dmitri of the Orthodox Church in America has described Islam as the most prevalent form of Arianism (a fourth century heresy) still extant, observing its similarity to Arianism in that both assert Jesus's status as a creature made by God, rather than God Himself. Muslims, however, reject Arianism's view that Jesus was an angelic creature, instead seeing him as a holy man. They claim that the early Judeo-Christian sect of the Ebionites have had more beliefs in common with Islam than orthodox Christianity.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the official doctrine document released by the Roman Catholic church, has this to say regarding Muslims:

"The Church's relationship with the Muslims: The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." (CCC 841).

Islam and Christianity differ fundamentally in regard to the crucifixion. Christians believe that Jesus was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin and the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, physically crucified, and resurrected. Muslims believe that Jesus was condemned to crucifixion (for reasons not clearly defined in the Qur'an), and then miraculously saved, "And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.(Quran Chapter 4 Verse 157)" The belief, which some Muslims hold, that another man was crucified and made to look like Jesus, actually has its roots in Christian apocrypha, i.e. Two Books of Jeu; Apocalypse of Peter, The Second Treatise of the Great Seth; and the Acts of John (see 'The Cross & the Crescent' by Jerald F. Dirks for details). In the Qur'an Jesus is said to ascend into heaven. In Christianity, Jesus is present for approximately two months after his ressurrection and ascends to the sky, and appears briefly two more times, once to Saul Tarsus, known as Paul, and then again to Philip the apostle.

It is sometimes asked, "What do contemporary Christianity and Islam share with each other that they do not share with Judaism?" The first and most important answer is their shared certainty in the objective existence of heaven and hell in the afterlife.

Moreover, they both believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, but disagree on the nature of Jesus' paternity in relation to the conception.

Even some of the more gnostic aspects of Christianity, present in Gospel of John and The Apocalypse of John are also present in Islam, although what they mean are not always the same. Such as;

In addition, while rejecting the notion that Islam was "influenced" by Christianity, or any other faith other than that of total submission to God, Muslims nevertheless cite the following important points of contact between the ministry of Jesus and the core teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah:

The duty to follow God's Will in all things, as cited in the Lord's Prayer.
The duty to remember that God is omniscient and all-powerful, even to the extent of requiring certainty on the part of the believer that God knows his or her thoughts and intentions. (See Luke 12:4-5, which is essentially a summary of the Islamic notion of taqwa, or fear of God.)
Jesus' emphasis on constant prayer.
Jesus' emphasis on charitable giving.
Jesus' emphasis on the importance of reaching out across religious and social divides to help one's fellow human beings, as in the Good Samaritan story.
Jesus' emphasis on hiding certain virtues (good works such as private prayer or charity), rather than claiming public attention for them or inflating one's ego over them.
The delusive nature of apparent physical wealth, and its inferiority as compared to spiritual wealth. (See Luke 6:24, which is a concise summary of a seemingly perpetual Qur'anic theme as seen in verses 3:14-15, for example.)

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Beliefs

See also